valley historian michael malone met us where there used to be an orchard. >> a key part of my childhood was watching one orchard after another being knocked down. and it's sort of sad that we're still doing it. >> the retailers want to be here. so this is what is going to happen with these last sites that are left. >> reporter: and developer daniel taxon was able to find out what is on his way here. >> target is the next big retailer, and safeway. and then followed by many other retailers like starbucks, marshals, ulta cosmetics, and approximately 2,000 apartment units. >> reporter: which brings us to the second ground zero malone spoke of. back in the late 1970s, the site became a target of lawsuits because of toxic waste. >> especially toxic pollution of the groundwater from all the nasty chemicals being used to make these disc drives and chips, and to clean them and wash them off. >> reporter: and now a new development? perhaps this is the beginning of something here.

and we will keep you posted on what goes on there. construction is set to start in early 2013. i contacted the city of san jose. it is aware of the plans and aware of the history of the site. correctly pointing out that lots of cleanup has been done through the years. janelle? >> thanks, scott. >> you bet. in other news tonight, milpitas may be putting its police department on the chopping block. the city council is considering outsourcing its law enforcement to the santa clara county sheriff's office. the issue is on the agenda for tonight's city council meeting which is open to the public. it begins at 7:00 p.m. at city hall. was ate crime of passion or pre-med etated murder. that's the issue surfacing in the trial of michelle esteban accused of killing michelle le. today esteban's boyfriend took the witness stand, telling the court about her escalating jealous of his platonic relationship with le. the 26-year-old nursing student disappeared in may of last year. her body was found four months later. the ex-boyfriend and esteban have a daughter together, and he

testified that they tried to salvage their rocky relationship for the benefit of the child. shaken to the core. those are the words from the head of albany schools after the death of a teacher accused of an inappropriate relationship with a former student. parents and teachers held a vigil for 28-year-old james izumizaki this morning at albany middle school. he was a popular teacher, coach, and mentor. his death yesterday is being investigated as a suicide. he was arrested last week on suspicion of a lewd act on a child under 14 years old. he had made bail, and at the time he was not formally charged with any crime because the case was still under investigation. today counselors were brought in to help students cope with the news. >> naturally there is a great deal of concern for them and how this is affecting them. >> nbc bay area had tried to speak with izumizaki, but he declined. a sheriff spokesperson says a note was found with him, and the contents are now part of the coroner's investigation. there is a lot of a's fever

today. this might be the best story and best team in all of baseball. the a's are heading to the play-offs for first time in six years. after last night's play-off clinching win, the scene today, well, what did you think? not surprisingly, busy. we want tickets. that's what everyone is saying. the ticket office was a steady stream of business all day. many open the winning streak will help the a's score a much needed new stadium. but question is where. that depends on who you talk to. >> i think the fact that they're winning, that the average fan is really excited about them now, and they're coming behind them. and it's going to push this issue to the front of the city agenda and the county's agenda to move forward with the new stadium, and hopefully keep the teams here. >> our hope is that we continue to light a candle in san jose to make sure that they know that san jose is, you know, wanting them to come here. >> reporter: this is a franchise in limbo. the a's are just waiting for commissioner of baseball to make a decision if they can move to the south bay. while the team says it's looking forward to securing a new stadium, its immediate focus is

on this week's games and then the play-offs. san francisco leaders are bracing for one of the busiest weekends this year. this week the city is hosting a bunch of major events expected to draw more than a million visitors. they include fleet week and the blue angels, the hardly strictly bluegrass festival and the america's cup series race there is giants play-off game, the italian heritage parade and numerous street festivals. b.a.r.t and muni are increasing cars to help. >> there will be taxis. if you're in the city, jump on your bike. much better ways to get around. the worst way you can choose to get around will be in your own car. >> the city is setting up free valet bicycle parking at all the major events. a lane of the embarcadero will also be dedicated to bicyclists heading to fleet week and the america's cup race. speaking of the america's cup, the high-end sailors are

back in town for more. based on fans reaction in august, the crowds will be big again this week. laurence scott joins us from san francisco. lawrence, you were literally on the boats in august. were the sailors happy with the support here in the bay area? >> reporter: they're loving it. they're loving it completely. and we'll be back on one of the boats. tomorrow we'll be with team korea. we want to thank oracle's jimmy spittle or the taking us out the first time in august. it's going to be a busy weekend, but it's going to bring all kind of attention. they may be anticipating the largest crowd ever to see one of these races in north america because of all the events here in san francisco this weekend. and the racing will continue through sunday. let's show you a little bit right now as to what was out on the bay today. ♪ the america's cup world series is back on the bay for another week of racing with match racing qualifiers set for wednesday as the action continues through to the fleet racing finals on sunday. tuesday practice sessions were just part of the scene as the skippers from all 11 teams came together, and nine of them

looking to challenge oracle team usa which took top honors in the match racing and fleet racing competition in august right near san francisco. the skippers for oracle team usa are certainly feeling at home here in the bay area, and are looking to build on their summer of success. >> i see more of us. i mean we'd like to repeat that same result, and we'll certainly be trying this week. >> it's been fantastic that all locals in really got behind us, just like they do the giants or the 49ers. i mean the support we've had just walking around the streets. i mean just come up. and the exciting thing is they're not -- so we're getting a brand-new audience. they've got behind the team. it's incredibly exciting for us. and the most important thing it is makes a difference. it helps us get a better result. >> now jimmy spithill is the youngest skip to win the america's cup. he did it in 2010. very important to defend it here in america in san francisco in

2013. we go in depth with spithill coming up at 6:00. and talk to him about what it will take to defend that cup. let's send it back to you guys in the studio. >> all righty. good evening. i'm jeff ranieri in the nbc bay area weather center. we're tracking that heat in san francisco where laurence is and plenty of record setting weather. 99 in sunnyvale. one of them many records coming in. napa 97 degrees, shattering the old record of 85. we'll have details on how long this lasts and our next best chance of showers coming up. and before you make your kids pb & j, a growing peanut butter recall to tell you about. the details in less than five minutes. stay with us.

decision 2012.

the election is just 35 days away. the next big moment is tomorrow, the big debate. the "wall street journal" poll shows 38% of people say these debates will be important. that's up from 2004 when 31% said the debates could sway their vote. today both president obama and governor romney stayed out of the spotlight. instead, preparing for their debate. but their running mates hit the trail in swing states. vice president biden said team romney would hike middle class taxes, while congressman ryan swung back. >> how they can justify raising taxes on the middle class has been buried the last four years. >> the obama economic agenda failed not because it was stopped. it failed because it was passed. >> the university of denver will host the debate tomorrow. you can watch it here live on nbc bay area. the topic for this first debate is domestic policy around the moderator is jim lehr.

a massive recall for a list of popular peanut butter brands is expanding tonight. new mexico-based sunland is now adding more store brand names to its recall list. the company provides peanut butter and other nut products to major chains. some of the brand names include target's archer farms, safe waive open nature and fresh and easy. also on the list are nature valley, earthbalance and serious food. the recall first began after some people started getting sick after eating trader joe's brand peanut butter. the centers for disease control and prevention there are at least 30 cases of salmonella illnesses across 19 states. it appears west and chicken soup are still the best remedies for the common cold. a new study says taking vitamin d supplements does not have much of an effect curing a cold. researchers in new zealand randomly assigned half a group of healthy adults to receive high doses of vitamin d for nearly two years. the other half took a placebo.

after the study researchers found no significant differences in the number of upper respiratory infections or the severity of colds between the two groups. this rush of summer weather has been the perfect stunt for sailors to extend their season on if bay, including a special group. >> they are people who have served our country, but don't always get to enjoy all that it offers. one east bay woman wants to make sure these one day a year they do. very v garvin thomas is here with the story. >> reporter: in 1997 they organized an event at their yacht club in alameda where disabled veterans were taken on boat trips around the bay. they called it the first annual wheelchair regatta. margo says she got some flak from some people calling it the first. how did she know there would be a second? clearly they didn't know margo. but 16 regattas later, they have probably gotten the picture. >> we have those two there is another one being launched. >> reporter: it is the last saturday in september. the day of the annual wheelchair

regatta at the encinal yacht club in almeda. at the helm, as always, is margo brown. >> so the buffers have a little more room to maneuver. >> reporter: if she is to make this year's event a success, margo must be organized. >> you've got all the spare pens now. >> reporter: thorough. >> where is ken? >> reporter: and decisive. >> we need her here, now. >> reporter: though it must be said the fact that there is such an event every year is thanks to another of margo's qualities. >> i'm stubborn. if i start something, i am going to continue to do it as long as it is possible. >> so far it has been physically possible for 16 straight years. this year's regatta the biggest one yet. close to 300 veterans are coming from homes and facilities all over northern california. margo has gathered more than 100 volunteers to greet the veterans.

escort them down to the docks. >> how many wheelchairs can you safely accommodate? >> reporter: and one by one. >> all right, is everybody ready? >> reporter: wheelchair and all, place them gently on to some 30 different yachts. the skipper of each boat offering to take their honored guest on a tour of the bay that. >> was a fun ride. >> reporter: for some of these veterans, it will be their only outing all year. >> it's a gift. it's a gift well received. believe me, well received. till our dying day, we'll remember these things. >> reporter: though she has no great family ties to the military, margo says she offers up this opportunity to vets because she feels they are often forgotten, particularly those who like her have a history that goes back more than a few decades. >> look at what they have done for us.

they have risked their lives. they went when we didn't. >> reporter: this yearly event is simply one american's way of saying thank you for your service. >> two, three. >> reporter: the thank yous margo received this year echoed one she heard many years ago. it is the one reason margo's calendar is already full on the last saturday of next september. >> one of them turned to me and said "thank you, you treated us like real people." after that, there was going to be a wheelchair regatta no matter what. and there is. >> as you notice, the pacific interclub yacht association that actually puts on the event. and you saw the pictures there. oakland firefighters, alameda firefighters, and volunteers from the coast guard. they're all volunteering. and it couldn't happen without them you. saw five, six volunteers to lift one of those wheelchairs up and on board. those are obviously not

wheelchair-accessible boats, sometimes two, three feet up in the air and place them gently. it couldn't happen without their help either. >> i know once in a while you ask for your e-mail address to get ahold of you. >> bayareaproud.com is the website. from there you can like me on facebook and follow me on twirt. and there is links to send in your e-mail suggestions if you think there is somebody worthy. a beautiful day to be on the bay. another hot one. let's check with jeff ranieri. >> records falling. . we're continuing to see some of the temperatures go even hotter. one of the hottest today. i feel real bad for you. gilroy at 107. not only rivaling the hottest this season or this month, but all yearlong potentially some of the hottest weather. walnut creek 102. and san francisco coming in at 94. this did also mean another new record in santa rosa, reaching 101. shattering that old number of 87 set back in 2001. and to put all this in a

perspective, you know when it gets hot inland, it's not always hot at the coastline. in san francisco we did just that for the day. reaching 94 degrees. getting close to that record of 96. but here is the thing. as we look ahead to our forecast, by thursday, temperatures expected to drop down into 60s. so not too much longer expected of this at the coastline. upper 90s and low 100 for the east bay. it is a scorcher as we have been saying. take plenty of breaks out here tonight, even if you're knowing the night is going to be falling, these numbers are going to be dangerously hot. let's take you outside of the live hd sky camera. not working in san jose. we have the haze with us in about 48 hours. we'll gradually get some cloud cover moving in. and in san francisco, we do have plenty of wild action happening this week. look at this cruise ship right now across the bay. that's a gorgeous shot. america's cup, fleet week, and plenty of a's and giants action as we head throughout the next couple of days that is a classic san francisco view. all right. let's get you into the weather boards. next 48 hours, the high pressure that has been producing the heat for the past three days, that's going to gradually fade in the

forecast. and here comes this area of low pressure offshore. the primary thing with in is going to help to keep that fog up against the coastline that will drop our temperatures a little bit for wednesday. but much larger drops expected for thursday and also for friday. so most notably, we're looking for a lot of the interior valleys to drop here. maybe some 20 to 30 degrees especially by about friday and saturday this upcoming week. so tomorrow we start to go down. but it's not going to be major. 92 in sunnyvale. 90 in morgan hill. so we could see numbers drop about 5 to 10 degrees. 93 in danville. 29 in pleasanton. 29 in walnut creek. 82 in hayward. 74 in san francisco. 77 at berkeley. 78 in richmond and 80 in oakland. your three-day forecast has low 90s tomorrow inland. then by friday near 80 inland there are the temperatures dropping. and by this upcoming weekend, get ready. we know we have fleet week. you're going to be looking towards the sky. the fog pattern is going to come back. not the best forecast for that. but for the boaters with america's cup, what they want is the fog and the wind going.

so it's going to be better for the america's cup, but not so great for fleet week at this point. and maybe a chance of showers as we head throughout next monday and tuesday. an action-packed seven-day forecast the next seven days in the bay. >> a lot going on. >> thank you so much. well, there is a disturbing story in the south bay. a 95-year-old woman came face-to-face with a man burglarizing her home. it's part of a city-wide trend, increasing burglaries. and both police officers and neighbors are frustrated. nbc bay area stephanie trong joins us in san jose's willow glen neighborhood with the story. stephanie? >> reporter: good evening, raj. the 95-year-old woman has lived in this willow glen neighborhood for 40 years. she is very shaken up, understandably. neither she nor her relatives wanted to talk on camera. they did tell us she was sleeping at home here when a man kicked down the back door. neighbors here are very upset, and so are some san jose police officers who say the rise in burglary wouldn't happen if city hall made public safety a priority.

>> i didn't sleep last night. >> reporter: mother of two shanna says she was horrified when she learned a man attacked her 95-year-old neighbor after he picked a lock on her gate and broke into her willow glen home, allegedly pepper spraying him when she confronted him. criminals are taking advantage of a limited police department. >> criminal nose that we're short on staff. they know that burglar alarms, different types of crimes aren't going to be responded to unless they're serious, more serious than that. >> reporter: according to the latest police numbers from september, response times are still lagging. monday morning's home invasion would quality as priority 2, now a nearly 18-minute response time compared to the target of 11 minutes. add to, that burglaries are up 54 and 72% in two areas of willow glen. and almost 35% citywide. police officers union spokesman james gonzalez says the worst part is that city hall isn't publicizing these growing crimes. the union believes it's to distract people from a short-staffed police department.

>> there should be more press releases there should be more information provided to the public. we've seen a systemic slowing of information about crime coming from city hall. crime is up. and we think that that message is not getting out. and we think it's deliberate. >> reporter: but councilwoman rose herera says the union is waging a political war, upset over cuts in pension spending. >> i'm upset, but we need to work together. it doesn't do any good to have the union leadership out there working against the elected leaders. >> reporter: now since yesterday's report of the home invasion, 19 neighbors here in this willow glen area have signed up to start a neighborhood watch. they say they want more control. coming up tonight at 6:00, we go deeper into the politics brewing between the police officers union and city leaders, all stemming from issues of crime in this city. for now live in the willow glen neighborhood, stephanie trong, nbc bay area news. >> stephanie, thank you. we will see you at 6:00. up next here at 5:00, grab a seat. your chance to see the 49ers in their new home just got a little bit easier. the story is next.

okay. it's still a hard hat area, but that doesn't mean you can't reserve your seats at the 49ers new stadium in santa clara. let's take a live look at the site. you see the steel beams are in place. this is a live stadium web cam. pretty cool to see as the sun begins to set. the niners have now opened advanced ticket sales to the general public. more than half the seats have already been sold to existing season ticketholders. this new stadium scheduled to open in time for the 2014 season. that's right around the corner. but you've got to have some money. first you to buy a personal seat license, which is a one-time fee of $2,000 to $80,000 depending on where you want to sit. then tickets range from $850 to $3750 a year. that's for one ticket at candlestick. proud as a peacock. for the first time in almost a decade, nbc won the ratings war during premier week.

nbc ordered an unprecedented 16 new shows closing six new comedies. it seems to be paying off with the 18 to 49 group which advertisers covet. "the voice," "revolution" and sunday night football helped boost ratings to the best performance since 2003. also tonight big night on tv. you can see blind auditions continue on "the voice" tonight starting at 8:00. >> some old nbc magic coming back. we're back in a moment. stay with us. [ taste buds ] donuts, donuts, donuts!

who are these guys? oh, that's just my buds. bacon, donuts. -my taste buds. -[ taste buds ] waffles. how about we try this new kind of fiber one cereal? you think you're going to slip some fiber by us? rookie. okay. ♪ nutty clusters and almonds, ♪ ♪ almonds. ♪ fiber one is gonna make you smile. ♪

[ male announcer ] introducing new fiber one nutty clusters and almonds. with 43% daily value of fiber for you. crunchy nutty clusters and real almond slices for your taste buds. well, "nightly news" is next, and then more local news at 6:00, including the property tax debate in the south bay.